Bulk propellant powder



Patented Nov. so, rare.

UNITED STATES ARTHUR SAMUEL ONEIL, Oh SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO WESTERN CARTRIDGE COMPANY, OF EAST ALTON, ILLINOIS, A COR- .POBATION OF DELAWARE.

, BULK PROPELLAN'J. POWDER.

No Drawing.

This invention relates to bulk shotgun powder and to a process of preparing such powder whereby certain characteristics and desirable qualities are imparted thereto.

Qrdinary bulk powders of the class referred to are manufactured from low nitration cottons. This is necessary in order to insure the desired ballistics. If cottons of high nitration were used the powder would burn too rapidly and produce dangerously high pressures at thebreech, and an attempt to correct this difliculty by reducing the charge would result in reduced velocities. Cottons of low nitration and powder made therefrom are relatively hygroscopic and deteriorate rapidly because of the moisture absorbed.

Attempts have been made heretofore to use cottons of high nitration in the production of powder by adding a percentage of rosin or other resinous material to the composition. This expedienthas not met With success, however. owing to the manner in which the resins burn and the resulting production of acid decomposition products.

It is the object of the present invention to provide a powder which is relatively nonhygroscopic, hard, and of the desired density, and generally free from the defects of the common grades of powder heretofore in use.

A further object of the invention is the provision of a method of manufacturing 1 powder of the character described and particularly to enable the manufacturer to utilize less expensive solvents than those heretofore used.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent as it is better understood by reference to the following specification in which the preferred embodiments of the invention are described.

in carrying out the invention, cottons of any nitration may he employed though those (it high nitration are preferred because of the nouhygroscopic quality which they impart to the powder. The rapidity of comhustion which otherwise excludes many of these cottons from use in the manufacture of powder is readily overcome by the use of a deterrent material. preierahlv wood flour. This dour is not ordinary wood pulp but is granuiar or amorphous in form as distin- Application filed January 26, 1922. Serial No. 531,914.

guished from fibrous pulp. Preferably the wood flour should be sufficiently this to pass a 30 mesh screen. The use of wood flour in the composition permits not only proper control of the rapidity of combustion, but also produces a powder of lower gravimetric weight, the density of which may be varied at will by the use of different proportions in the mixture.

To insure complete combustion of the wood flour and the consequent production of a smokeless powder, it is preferable to include in the composition a proportion of a metallic nitrate, e. g., barium, potassium or sodium nitrate. The roportion of metallic nitrates is, of course, varied, depending upon the proportion of wood flour in the composition.

It may also be desirable to introduce during the process of granulation and before the grain has hardened, a proportion of a nitrohydrocarbon, e. g., dinitrotoluene, nitronaphthalene, or dinitrobenzene. These ingredients have a certain ballistic value and ma be advantageously used for this reason. 'lhey serve, 'moreover, as a waterproofing and hardening agent 'for the powder grains. Thus, if the powder is made from high nitrocottons it is doubly protected from moisture. Th nitrohydrocarbon also serves as a deterrent, partially or wholly replacing the wood flour.

Powder prepared with compositions described has a more firm and harder grain than powders ordinarily found in the market. It is freer from liability to absorb moisture and is more readily used in loading shells because the harder surfaced grains 'flow freely through the loading machines.

It is more uniform in quality than ordinary powders and insures the preservation of proper ballistic relations.

The powder is prepared in a suitable still, equipped with mechanical stirring apparatus. The nature and speed of the stirring apparatus are determined by the size of the powder grain to be produced. At the top of the still a fume-tight charging door is provided and a vapor line leads from the top to a water condenser A discharging door or valve at the bottom of the still permits re moval of the charge to a suitable filteringor centrifugal apparatus wherein the powder is After drying,

separated from liquid, containing barium nitrate or other oxygen-carrying compounds, which is returned to the still. The still and appurtenant apparatus do not differ materially from that commonly employed in powder-making operations, and therefore is not illustrated.

In preparing the powder, the following procedure is preferably followed, although the details may be varied. A weighed amount of nitro-cotton having the desired nitration is added to a water solution of barium or other nitrate, and wood flour in the suitable proportion depending on the desired characteristics of the powder is added to the mixture in the still. The mass is agitated until the ingredients are thoroughly commingled and a solvent, preferably commercial ethyl acetate, is run into the still under continuous agitation until the nitro-cotton is colloided. Other solvents such as amyl acetate, butyl acetate, methyl acetate, ether-alcohol or acetone may be employed. The cheaper solvents are preferred. Heretofore only amyl or butyl acetate have been used and the process here in described has the advantage of permitting the elimination of these relatively more expensive solvents.

The mass in the still is heated by means of the steam jacket to the temperature necessary to distill the solvent, e. g., 85 (3., until the greater part of the solvent is removed and recovered. A suitable amount of a nitrohydrocarbon, preferably dinitrotoluene,

is then introduced. Nitronaphthalene, dinitrobenzene, or in fact any nitrohydrocarbon the melting point of which is about or below 100 (3., may be used in place of dinitrotoluene. After further agitation to ensure thorough mixing, the charge is cooled to about C. to freeze the nitrohydrocarbon which has entered the soft grain and the charge is dropped into the filtering'or centrifugal apparatus, and after separation of the solution is ready for'the dry house. the powder is screened through a rotary screen of the desired mesh and loaded. into suitable containers.

.A typical example of a shotgun powder produced in accordance with the invention herein described has the following composition.

External moisture 0.74 Internal moisture 0.50 Ash 0.82 Barium nitrate 3.56 Dinitrotoluene 9.53 Wood flour 2.4:3 Nitrocellulose-"magi 824:2

It is to be observed that this composition eoaaoa is merely representative and is not to be taken as a limitation of the invention.

The advantages of the powder prepared as hereinbefore described are itsrelatively non-hygroscopic character and uniform combustion rate depending upon the particular proportions of the deterrent agents which are employed in the composition. The advantages of the process are similar and include also the possibility of using relatively cheap solvents. The non-hygrosco is quality results from the use of cottons of igher nitration than is usual in preparing powders and from the application of nitrohydrocarbons before the grain hardens. The rate of combustion is controlled by the added wood flour and the nitrohydrocarbon, and the latter material is useful, moreover, to insure a harder grain than is otherwise possible. 4

Coated military powders have been known heretobefore in which a coating is applied to the finished grain after drying. The invention herein described is not a coated or impregnated powder. The nitrohydrocarbon when applied is a part of the powder composition which is introduced before the powder grain is completed. The introduction of nitrohydrocarbons in this manner results in a. new powder of markedly superior qualities which may be imparted thereto whether the wood flour is or is not employed in the composition.

Various changes may be made in the ingredients, the proportions thereof and in the process of compounding the powder without departing from the invention or sacrlficing any of the advantages thereof.

I claim:

l. A bulk propellant powder including in its composition a nitro-cotton of high nitration and a deterrent material to reduce the rate of combustionof the powder.

t 2. A bulk propellant owder including in its composition a nitro-cotton of high nitration and wood flour as a deterrent material to reduce the rate of combustion of the powder. v

. 3. A bulk propellant powder including in its composition a nitro-cotton of high nitration, wood flour and an oxidizing agent adapted and proportioned to ensure combustion of the wood flour.

4. A bulk propellant powder including in its composition nitro-cotton, a deterrent material to reduce the rate of combustion of the nitro-cotton, and an oxidizing a ent adapted and proportioned to ensure comp ete combustion of the deterrent material.

5. A bulk propellant powder including in its composition nitro-cotton, a deterrent material to reduce the rate of combustion of the nitro-cotton, and a-m'etallic nitrate adapted and proportioned to ensure complete combustion of the deterren material.

6. A bulk propellant powder including in its composition nitro-cotton, wood flour and an oxidizing agent adapted and proportioned to ensure complete combustion of the wood flour. 7. A bulk propellant powder including in its composition nitro-cotton, wood flour and a metallic nitrate adapted and proportioned ftio ensure complete combustion of the wood our. 7

8. A bulk propellant powder including in its composition nitro-cotton a deterrent material to reduce the rate of combustion of the nitro-cotton and a nitro-hydrocarbon adapted and proportioned to water-proof the powder.

- 9. A bulk propellant powder including in its composition nitro-cotton, a deterrent material tored'uoethe rate of combustion of the nitro-cotton, an oxidizing agent adapted 'to ensure complete combustion of the deterrent material and a nitrohydrocarbon adapted and proportioned to waterproof the powder.

10. A bnlkpropellant powder including in its composition Intro-cotton, wood flour and a nitrohydrocarbon adapted and proportioned to water-proof the powder 11. A bulk propellant powder including in its composition nitro-cotto'n, woodflour, an oxidizing agent adapted and proportioned to ensure complete combustion of the wood flour and a nitrohydrocarbon adapted and proportioned to water-proof the pow- 12. A propellant powder including in its compositipn nitro-cotton, wood flour, a metallic nitrate adapted and proportioned to ensure complete combustion of: the wood flour and a nitrohydrocarbon adapted and proportioned to water-proof the powder.

13. A bulk propellant powder including in its composition nitro-cotton and dinitrotoluene adapted and proportioned to waterproof the powder.

14. A bulk propellant powder including in its composition nitro-cotton of high nitration, wood flour and dinitrotoluene.

15.=, A process of manufacturing powder, which comprises colloiding a nitro-cotton of high nitration to which a proportion of a combustion-"deterrent material has been added in the presence of a solvent, evaporating the solvent'and granulating the powder. K

16. A process of manufacturing powder,

which comprises colloiding a nitro-cotton of.

high nitration to which a proportion of wood flour has been added in the presence of a solvent, evaporating the solvent and 'granulating the powder.

1 7. A process of manufacturing powder, which comprises colloiding a. nitro-cotton of high nitration to which a proportion of lation is complete,- and subsequently drying the powder.

20. A process of manufacturing powder, which comprises mixing nitro-cotton and a combustion deterrent material witlr a solution, of a metallic oxidizing salt adapted to insure oxidation of the deterrent material, mixing a solvent with the mass to colloid the nitro-cotton, evaporating the solvent and drying the powder. e 21 A process of manufacturing powder,

which comprises colloidingra nitro-c'btton of high-nitration in ethyl acetate in the presence of an insoluble deterrent material,-

evaporating-the solvent and drying the powder process of manufacturingpowder,

which ,comprises col-loiding a mtro-cotton of highnitration in' ethyl acetate in the presence of an insoluble deterrent 'material, evaporating the solvent, introducing a nitrohydrocarbon before granulation s come plete, and drying the powder. 7

23. A process of manufacturing powder,

which comprises 'colloiding a nitro-cotton of high nitration in 'eth'l acetate in the H presence of an insoluble eterrent material,-

evaporating the solvent, introducing dinitrotoluene before granulationis complete,

and drying the powder. I

In testimony whereof I' aflix my signature.

ARTHUR SAMUEL :QNEIL. 

